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Delahoyde & Hughes
Orpheus
OVID
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Jason and Medea:
War between Crete and Athens:
Cephalus and Procris:
Here's a tragic distrusting couple. Cephalus is the husband, abducted by
the Dawn, and Procris sneaks about in the bushes. Cephalus heaves a
javelin, bringing about another tragic hunting accident. So take note:
the animal you're shooting at may be your own wife (179).
Dodging a repetition of the events given in Euripides' well-known play,
Medea, Ovid instead offers Jason and
Medea, the early years: Medea resists but falls in love, helps Jason with
his heroic chores involving bulls and warriors sprung from a serpent's
teeth and the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece. Her witchcraft
rejuvenates Aeson (162) but they play a trick on Pelias and his daughters
(163-164) -- chopped-up Daddy didn't come back to life! The period
covered in the Euripides play is scanned quickly in a few lines (165) and
Ovid then segues into Medea as Aegeus' wife and therefore Theseus' evil
stepmother (166).
After an effective description of heat, drought, and pestilence brought
by Juno, in which the earth and humans mutually suffer a blight (170), we
hear about the Myrmidons (173).
Check out this separate commentary on the Myrmidons.
Ovid Index
Orpheus: Roman Mythology